The proceeds from the sales of what is being coined as “A Shoe for Change” aim to bring positive and lasting transformation to the Louisville community. Mitchell and adidas worked closely with the to determine which scholarships and academic initiatives to fund to best serve its diverse student population. These initiatives include the Woodford R. Porter Scholarship Program, the Muhammad Ali Scholar Program, the Health and Social Justice Scholars Program and an expanded emergency fund to help increase retention rates of the impacted students, allowing them to focus on their studies and work toward graduation.

Alongside Mitchell and adidas, WNBA star Angel McCoughtry also is supporting the efforts tied to her alma mater.

“I am so proud of Donovan and Angel for their commitment to the university, the local community and our ongoing diversity and equity efforts,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “We all know that both of these former Cardinals are fabulous basketball players, but they also are great leaders and role models. The impact from the sale of this shoe will be felt at their alma mater for years to come. We are so honored to have both in the Cardinal Family.”

Members of the UofL men’s and women’s basketball teams will wear the limited-edition colorway in upcoming games. Donovan will also debut the new colorway in his preseason game today, Dec. 17.

“With my mom being a teacher and based on the values she taught me from a young age, I have always understood the importance of education, which is why adidas and I worked with my alma mater, the University of Louisville, to ensure proceeds from the Louisville colorway of D.O.N. Issue #2 would fund scholarships to support Black students,” Mitchell said. “I am passionate about giving back, so having the opportunity to support the Louisville community, a place that helped shape me, is really special and it’s great my friend and champion for equality, Angel McCoughtry, is supporting these efforts as well.”

“Donovan Mitchell is a special talent on the basketball court and an even better person off the court. I’m proud to call him a friend and fellow ‘Cardinal Forever.’ I’m excited to work with him and adidas to support the Louisville community that means so much to me. I’m always proud to wear Donovan’s shoe on court, and I know these scholarship funds generated by the shoe’s sales will leave a lasting impact on the Black students who receive them and the greater Louisville community,” McCoughtry said.

D.O.N. Issue #2 x Louisville (A Shoe for Change) drops��on Dec. 17 for $100��at 1 p.m. EST on . “A Shoe for Change” represents the first sneaker available for fans to purchase among adidas, Mitchell and the Cardinals.

The sneaker’s name, D.O.N., remains a testament to Mitchell’s Determination Over Negativity, aiming to be a vehicle for positive disruption on the court and in communities. The D.O.N. Issue #2 x Louisville portrays the familiar UofL colors and its iconic mascot, Louie the Cardinal, featured inside the rubber outsole dunking. The shoe’s lace overlay includes the Cardinals’ rallying cry, “Louisville First, Cards Forever,” and the heel features “THE VILLE” as a tribute to the city’s long-standing nickname.

McGrath graduated in May 2020 with degrees in English and philosophy and will be an English Teaching Assistant in Spain. The Louisville native also plans to explore the local music scene and offer music lessons during his time overseas.����

The original story published in July is below.

The University of Louisville continues its strong showing in national and international scholarships and fellowships with 21 students receiving offers to attend prestigious programs around the globe.

This year’s batch includes 11 Cardinals selected for the U.S. Student Fulbright Program, the third year in a row UofL has racked up Fulbright offers in the double digits.

“I continue to be amazed at the number of prestigious scholars produced by this university each and every year,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Nothing makes me more proud than seeing our students achieve such great honors and knowing that our faculty and staff are so supportive of their efforts.”

With individual country programs in flux due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some offers might be curtailed or postponed, and some alternates typically receive offers to join the program, so numbers won’t be finalized until later this calendar year. At any rate, officials expect that, including this year, more than 140 UofL alums will have received Fulbrights since 2003–more than all other Kentucky public institutions combined.

“We’re so proud to see UofL’s incredible students earning recognition and pursuing exciting opportunities,” said Bethany Smith, fellowships coordinator with the Office of National and International Scholarships, “and as always, a key part of the process has been the involvement of faculty and staff who recommend and mentor students and serve as campus interviewers.”

“The performances of our students and alumni stack up against those of many top-tier schools, including those in the Ivy League and at other highly-ranked public flagships,” said Charlie Leonard of the Office of National and International Scholarships.

Students and alumni earned other prestigious, competitive awards this cycle. All are noted below.

Fulbright Awards

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to recent graduates and graduate students. Administered in the U.S. by the Department of State’s Bureau of ����ֱ��al and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright program was established in 1946 to promote international goodwill through education and cultural exchange.

Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships (ETA)

• graduated this spring with a degree in education. She has been selected to work in Spain as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. She is originally from Lisle, Illinois.
• , a McConnell Scholar from Owensboro, Kentucky, graduated this spring with an individualized major concentrating on international relations, Spanish, history, political science and linguistics. He was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain next year.
• , of Louisville, has been selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant for the Czech Republic. She is a member of the Brown Fellows Program and graduated this spring with majors in biochemistry and political science.
• earned degrees in art and Latin American & Latino Studies in 2018. She is from Louisville and was selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Costa Rica.
• , a member of UofL’s Guaranteed Entrance to Medical School (GEMS) program, graduated this spring with majors in biology and Spanish. He was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain. He is from Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
• is a UofL 2020 graduate from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. A McConnell Scholar majoring in political science, he received a Fulbright offer to teach English in Malaysia.
• was selected to teach English as a Fulbright ETA in Jordan. She is from Louisville and was a Muhammad Ali Scholar and Porter Scholar at UofL. She earned her degree in political science in 2019.

��Fulbright Research/Graduate Study Awards

• is working toward a doctorate in public health at UofL and has been selected for a Fulbright-Fogarty Public Health Fellowship to do research in Ghana. She grew up in Accra, Ghana and Chicago.
• graduated from UofL in 2018 with a degree in political science. She was a Jones Scholar, Honors Scholar and 2017 English Speaking Union Scholarship recipient and will travel to Hungary next year to study international relations. She is from Tampa, Florida.
• , of Owensboro, Kentucky, received her bachelor’s in bioengineering this spring and has been selected for a Fulbright research award for Canada.
• graduated in May 2018 with a degree in chemical engineering. He received a Fulbright research award to conduct research in the field in the United Arab Emirates.

Boren Scholarship

The Boren Awards, sponsored by the U.S. National Security ����ֱ�� Program (NSEP), provide undergraduate and graduate students in all fields of study with funding for up to one year of immersive study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

• , a McConnell Scholar who graduated this spring with a degree in philosophy, has been selected for a Boren Scholarship to study the Croatian language in Croatia next year.
• will spend next year studying Swahili in Tanzania as a Boren Scholar. She is originally from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and graduated from UofL this spring with degrees in economics and marketing.
• , a junior Grawemeyer Scholar majoring in chemistry and psychology, has been awarded a Boren Scholarship to study Mandarin in Taiwan. She is from Worthington, Kentucky.

Critical Language Scholarship

The CLS program provides opportunities for overseas language and cultural immersion for students interested in critical languages that are essential to the United States’ engagement with the world.

• : Russian

Rotary Global Grant

Rotary Global Grants support humanitarian work, scholarships and vocational training projects aimed at building international relationships, promoting peace and improving lives.

• , of Ashland, Kentucky, earned her BS in business administration and marketing in 2019. She will pursue a master’s in social innovation and entrepreneurship at London School of Economics.

English-Speaking Union KY Branch Summer Scholarship

The English-Speaking Union is a nonprofit educational service organization. Its summer study abroad scholarships for college juniors and Kentucky teachers are intended to promote the advancement of knowledge in an expanding global community.

• is a junior Grawemeyer Scholar and political science major from Morning View, Kentucky. She was selected to study history, politics and society at Oxford.
• is a junior Martin Luther King Scholar majoring in history and Pan-African Studies. She is from Clarksville, Indiana, and has received an ESU Scholarship to study history at Cambridge.

Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program

The Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program is a paid summer fellowship designed to foster the entrance of talented students from diverse backgrounds within the humanities, social sciences and fine arts into academia.

• is a rising senior majoring in women, gender and sexuality studies and Pan-African Studies, with a minor in social change. A Louisville native, Sidney was selected to spend the summer researching racial representation in contemporary television.

Mary Churchill Humphrey Scholarship

The University of Louisville Centenary Memorial Scholarship enables graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences to pursue advanced study in the United Kingdom.

• graduated from UofL in 2013 with degrees in political science and social change. During her time at UofL, the Louisville native was a McConnell Scholar who received a 2013-2014 Fulbright ETA to Malaysia. She will pursue a degree in politics of conflict, rights and justice at SOAS University of London.

2020 NASA DEVELOP Program

DEVELOP address environmental and public policy issues through interdisciplinary research projects.

• graduated in May 2020 with a master’s degree in geography and geosciences. She earned a research opportunity with the NASA DEVELOP program.

More information about UofL’s prestigious scholars is .����

The gift will create the Fund at UofL. The fund will provide support in three main areas: diversity and inclusion, food security and sustainability and leadership development.

“Kroger is so proud to be part of this innovative and truly remarkable partnership,” said Ann Reed, Louisville Division President for Kroger. “We love the University of Louisville and all the wonderful programs that are available in the city through its leadership. Our combined efforts around food insecurity and sustainability and our focus on diversity and inclusion will drive innovation and improvement for Kroger and the university.”

Highlights of the Kroger gift include:

• $80,000 annually for undergraduate scholarships, beginning in fall 2020. Strong preference will be given to low-income, under-represented minorities pursuing STEM+H careers. Kroger Zero Hunger, Zero Waste Scholars will develop and present projects to a panel of UofL, Kroger and community professionals. Projects will focus on such topics as food waste diversion, food access for underprivileged families and communities and recycling and sustainability initiatives.
• $30,000 annually to UofL’s Office of Diversity & Equity to provide student services that will increase the likelihood of retention and degree completion of Black, Latinx, LGBTQ and female students.
• $30,000 annually to create and fuel a UofL Employee Success Center. These funds will enable the center to provide leadership and professional development training to thousands of UofL staff and faculty.
• $10,000 annually to UofL’s Sustainability Center for increased zero waste efforts and on-site composting expansion.

“We are thankful to the Louisville Kroger Division and its many associates for stepping up to assist the students, faculty and staff of the University of Louisville,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “This generous gift will greatly strengthen our efforts to foster diversity and inclusion, promote sustainability on campus and build the next generation of leaders.”

The Kroger gift includes support for the renovation and expansion of the Cardinal Cupboard and the donation of a vehicle to help volunteers gather items to stock the on-campus food pantry. The Kroger agreement also creates a partnership with the Kroger Mobile Market, through the Dare to Care Food Bank. The mobile market will make stops at the Belknap and Health Sciences Center campuses to provide healthy and convenient fresh food access.

UofL faculty and staff further stand to benefit through the creation of an exclusive discount program for all full- and part-time employees. By presenting a current UofL ID at checkout, faculty and staff will be offered special discounts and offers.

Through the partnership, Kroger dietitians, nutritionists and other experts also will host cooking classes and information sessions on nutrition and other topics.

Kroger’s Louisville Division operates 116 retail food stores in Kentucky, Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois.��

The Breonna Taylor Memorial Scholarship Fund in Nursing will be a four-year renewable award. In choosing the recipient, preference would be granted to Kentucky residents. It will cover full tuition and fees. The fund is created with 100% participation by the UofL Health board members. It was announced today by members of the University of Louisville Black Student Union.

Taylor, who would have turned 27 today, was an emergency room technician at UofL Health-Medical Center East. She was killed in March by police officers serving a “no-knock” warrant at her home.

“Breonna was a member of our UofL Health family,” said UofL Health CEO Tom Miller. “We grieve her loss, but we are hopeful her legacy can inspire meaningful change. This scholarship is part of an overall commitment to ensure diversity in our workforce and develop ongoing plans to eliminate racial inequality in health care.”

UofL Health is a nonprofit health provider affiliated with University of Louisville. It is governed by an .

UofL President Neeli Bendapudi said having unanimous participation from the board members in establishing the fund shows that Taylor’s life, while cut tragically short, continues to make a community impact.

“While I didn’t know Breonna, I have learned that she was a wonderful person and a health care hero,” Dr. Bendapudi said. “Our hope is that this scholarship will provide the opportunity for another phenomenal young Black woman to follow in Breonna’s footsteps.”

“I am so appreciative that the University of Louisville, in partnership with the Black Student Union, will honor Breonna’s life through the creation of the Breonna Taylor Memorial Scholarship,” said Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer. “Breonna is smiling down knowing that there will be a path for students to pursue nursing degrees without accumulating student loan debt. Thank you to the university and its students for ensuring that Bre’s legacy will continue for generations to come.”

Anyone interested in supporting the Breonna Taylor Memorial Scholarship Fund can visit .

The coronavirus pandemic prompted some spring test dates to be canceled or postponed. The uncertainty over future testing options caused concern for high school juniors and their families. UofL hopes to alleviate some of that anxiety by making the tests optional.

Tests still will be required for certain programs, such as those in the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, School of Nursing and College of Business. Most scholarships, including competitive and mentored scholarships, also will continue to require test scores. UofL will have some merit aid available for students without test scores.

“We have always attempted to look at students holistically,” said Jenny Sawyer, UofL’s executive director of admissions, “especially students with excellent grades, a strong desire to learn and be a college graduate and those without the resources of others. This gives us the opportunity to provide access to UofL in new ways and reduce the stress of standardized tests to our prospective students, especially during these difficult times.”

First-time freshman who choose not to submit ACT or SAT results will follow the same process as those who do not meet the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary ����ֱ��’s College Readiness Indicators. They will be required to take one of several exams in math or reading to determine their proper first-year placement in courses after they are accepted.

As a trial, UofL allowed some students to apply for the freshmen fall 2020 class without submitting ACT or SAT scores. Those students provided a personal statement and resume, and grades and curriculum weighed more heavily in the decisions. The test-optional policy will be reviewed by the university to see if it will continue beyond fall 2021. For more information, visit

��

UofL is seeking to fast-track development of , including application to the Food and Drug Administration, for approval to begin treating patients already infected with COVID-19. The UPS gift, which will fund trials and test materials, will help enable that work.

“UPS delivers all over the world, so everywhere we operate is now affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said UPS Airlines President Brendan Canavan. “We’re committed to serve every one of those communities and are hopeful that this grant will help unlock an effective treatment for the virus.”

UPS Airlines is based in Louisville, and UPS has a long-standing relationship with UofL through the Metropolitan College program.

The work being conducted at UofL involves a piece of synthetic DNA known as an “aptamer” and was originally developed as a cancer treatment by researcher with co-researchers John Trent and Dr. Don Miller. With the global pandemic of coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes, Bates partnered with fellow researcher Kenneth Palmer, director of UofL’s Center for Predictive Medicine for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, to apply the technology once again.

Their work is especially promising because the biotechnology has already been tested in clinical trials, and researchers have conducted proof-of-concept experiments showing the aptamer is effective against the virus. Previous clinical trials for cancer patients also show that the treatment is safe for patients.

“I deeply appreciate the gift from UPS that helps support my work,” said Bates, a professor of medicine. “It is with gifts such as this that we will be able to advance our research and our ability to treat the novel coronavirus.��I’m also��thankful to be in such a collaborative setting with great facilities and a supportive environment for translational research. There are only a few places where we could have tested this idea so quickly.”

UofL researchers now are processing test results from 12 hospitals, UofL Campus Health and four outpatient clinics in the Greater Louisville area. As of today, the university had processed 1,797 tests, including 1,032 for Norton Healthcare, 288 for UofL Health and 186 for Jewish Hospital. There have been 204 positive tests.

“We now have the capacity to do up to 1,000 cases per day,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “We have researchers who have temporarily dropped all of their other duties to devote their time to the fight against COVID-19.”

As part of the expanded testing effort, the university also has committed to processing up to 200 cases per day through the drive-up testing being conducted by UofL Health at its site at Brook and Liberty streets in downtown Louisville.

UofL’s efforts are producing all test results within 24 hours, according to Gardner, who is reporting the results directly to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which relays the reports to Gov. Andy Beshear’s office on a daily basis. Rapid turnaround allows hospitals to isolate patients and health care providers with COVID-19 and move others out of isolation, saving supplies of personal protective equipment that are critically low in the state and protecting the health care workforce.

By processing the tests and studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus, UofL researchers and the university’s Center for Predictive Medicine for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases are hoping to answer urgent questions about how it is spread, who becomes sick and how the illness progresses. That information is needed to help prevent transmission of COVID-19.

UofL is supporting this research with $500,000 in funding, but additional funds are needed to continue the work over time. Donations specifically for the research can be made at��.

UofL also continues to work on long-term approaches to the virus.

Kenneth Palmer, director of UofL’s Center for Predictive Medicine, is testing potential treatments, including one developed at UofL in partnership with the National Cancer Institute and the University of Pittsburgh.

Kevin Gardner, vice provost for research at the University of New Hampshire, will assume the role as UofL’s next executive vice president for research and innovation (EVPRI) on Jan. 27, pending board of trustees’ approval. He succeeds William Pierce, who retired in 2018. Robert Keynton, professor and Lutz Endowed Chair for Biomechanical Devices, has served as interim EVPRI since that time.

Gardner has served in various roles at New Hampshire since 1999, including the past nine years in research leadership, first as director of strategic initiatives then as vice provost for research. During his tenure, he has overseen that institution’s rise from designation as a Carnegie Research High Research Activity (R2) university to Carnegie Very High Research Activity (R1) status.

As associate then state director of New Hampshire’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), he led the development of a statewide plan to increase engagement among higher education, research-based business and industry and state government.

He also has served as director of New Hampshire’s Environmental Research Group and Recycled Materials Resource Center and as a professor of civil and environmental engineering.

“Dr. Gardner brings excellent credentials to this position,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “As important, he brings energy, enthusiasm and communication skills that will help us build our research enterprise and share that knowledge to benefit our students, our community and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We are excited to have him join our team.”

Gardner received his bachelor of science in civil engineering from Union College in Schenectady, New York. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Prior to his arrival at New Hampshire, Gardner taught at Case Western Reserve University and Hofstra University. He also served as a research assistant at Clarkson and as an engineer in Walnut Creek, California.

Woodward has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes, first in 1973 for the coverage of the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein, and again in 2003 as the lead reporter for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Woodward will receive the medal during an Oct. 16 dinner and presentation at the Louisville Marriott Downtown, 280 W. Jefferson St. During the presentation, Woodward will have a conversation about his life and career with Howard Fineman, Louisville law graduate and journalist.

The dinner and presentation are 6 to 8:30 p.m. A cash bar will precede the dinner. Tickets are $100 per person and available through Oct. 9. After that date, tickets are $125.��

The Brandeis Medal is awarded to people whose lives reflect a commitment to individual liberty, concern for the disadvantaged and public service. The honor is given in tribute to Justice Louis D. Brandeis, a former U.S. Supreme Court justice from Louisville and the namesake of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law.

Woodward is the author or co-author of 19 books, all of which have been national non-fiction bestsellers. Thirteen of those have been No. 1 national bestsellers. He has written books on nine of the most recent presidents, from Nixon to Trump. “Fear: Trump in the White House” (2018) was both a New York Times and international No. 1 bestseller. It broke the 94-year first-week sales record of its publisher, Simon & Schuster, and sold over two million copies its first three months in the U.S. alone.

The American Council on ����ֱ�� (ACE) fellowship, established in 1965, is designed to strengthen institutional and leadership capacity in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration. Thirty-eight Fellows, nominated by the senior administration of their institutions, comprise the 2019-20 cohort at colleges and universities across the nation.

“Selection as a host institution is a sign of the outstanding reputation and commitment to excellence at the university,” said Sherri Lind Hughes, director of ACE Leadership and a 2002-03 ACE Fellow. “An ACE Fellow chooses an institution not only for its rigorous academic environment and high-quality efforts to educate students but also its strong desire to invest in the future of higher education senior leadership as well.”

The ACE Fellows Program combines retreats, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single academic year. The Fellows are included in the highest level of decision-making while participating in administrative activities at their host institutions. Time is also spent investigating a specified issue of benefit to their nominating institutions for implementation upon the Fellows’ return to campus at the conclusion of the Fellowship placement.

During her time at UofL, Assudani will work alongside President Neeli Bendapudi and Provost Beth Boehm on projects related to the strategic plan. In partnership with Gail DePuy, associate dean for academic and student affairs, she will offer expert opinions on the plan’s implementation in the coming months.

Assudani has earned graduate degrees in both the Netherlands and India, as well as her doctorate in strategy and organizations from McGill University in Montreal. She also was selected for a leadership program through the Harvard Kennedy School. In addition to her expansive education, she has published and presented on numerous topics related to her field.

Over 2,000 higher education leaders have participated in the ACE Fellows Program over the past five decades, with more than 80 percent of Fellows having served as senior leaders of colleges and universities.